


FIGHT FOR ME

by pepsicola



Series: Showdown [2]
Category: South Park
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, bebe knows more than she lets on, cartman and clyde are stepbrothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23401963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepsicola/pseuds/pepsicola
Summary: Screaming at the top of his lungs and crying his heart out, Butters couldn't believe the words that came out of Eric's mouth—the cruelty, the brutally honest—because he refuses to acknowledge the truth of them.
Relationships: Clyde Donovan/Bebe Stevens, Eric Cartman/Butters Stotch, Kenny McCormick & Butters Stotch, Kenny McCormick/Butters Stotch
Series: Showdown [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1675960
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	FIGHT FOR ME

Upstairs, the muffled shouting was becoming increasingly louder. Downstairs, the TV was on with the volume at fifty. Not even that could drown it out.

“You need to cut them off!”

Those were the first words that Bebe could decipher through the floor and the walls separating her and Clyde from Cartman and Butters upstairs.

“I don’t wanna!”

Butters’ voice was shrill and furious.

Bebe’s and Clyde’s eyes were glued to the TV, but they were only pretending to watch. Their ears were fixated on the argument occurring above them.

“Why? Because you hope that one day they’ll wake up and realize where they went wrong and apologize for all the suffering they caused you?” Cartman shot back.

“Yes!” Butters shrieked. “They’re my _parents!”_

Cartman roared, “That’s never gonna happen, Butters! Not in your wildest fucking dreams! So open your damn eyes and wake the fuck up already. Because if you _really_ believe that they’re gonna beg you for forgiveness and treat you right for once your life just because you went crawling back to them like they want you to—after your first true and great act of defiance by saying you’re done with their bullshit and running away to live with me—then you’re delusional!”

The silence that followed was stifling. Bebe held her breath, and she realized Clyde was too. She dared a glance at him at her side. His eyes were wide and full of worry. His dark brown eyebrows furrowed as a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t look at her when his hand found hers. She curled her fingers around his.

They waited with bated breath for what was to come next.

The slam of a door shook the whole house. It rattled the hung-up picture frames. It reverberated on the air. It made Bebe and Clyde flinch. Bebe scooted closer to Clyde so he could easily wrap his arms around her.

Slowly, they simultaneously turned to look towards the stairs.

Butters—sneering, red-faced, tear-streaked, trembling—stormed down the staircase. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. His eyes were trained on the door.

Cartman came rushing down the stairs. Whatever anger there had once been on his face was gone. All he looked was sorry. He reached out to touch Butters’ shoulder, but once his fingertips made contact, Butters shook him off.

“I’m sorry, Butters. You know I didn’t mean that. It was a stupid heat-of-the-moment thing,” Cartman pleaded. “Let’s go back to my room and talk this out.” He caught Butters’ arm, but Butters shoved him back, forcing Cartman to let go in order for him to regain his balance.

Butters tore open the front door and marched through it. He only turned back to scream, “I hate you!” He reared in another hiccupy breath to let out louder this time, _“I hate you!”_

Cartman went to follow him out, saying in a soft voice, “C’mon, baby—” but Butters stopped him by simply snapping, _“Don’t_ call me that!”

Cartman halted, staring in shock at Butters. Butters spun on his heel and stomped away from the house.

Bebe’s eyes flashed to the window. Through the glass, she watched Butters walk over to the sidewalk and sit heavily on the curb. He curled his arms around his head in his lap.

 _At least he’s not leaving,_ she thought. _He could have gone back to his house. But he’s not. That’s a plus. He’s not so mad that he’s willing to leave the neighborhood._

Clyde, also watching out the window, discreetly gestured to the right side of the glass.

Kenny was out there, gawking back and forth at Cartman and Butters. He stood only a few feet away from sobbing Butters.

 _Oh,_ Bebe thought as a chill settled at the pit of her stomach. This was just getting worse.

Cartman was still frozen in the doorway, his jaw hanging open. He was staring at Butters’ back. In her mind, Bebe silently urged him to go out there and sit next to Butters and convince him to come back inside. To be the knight in shining armor he was waiting for. For Cartman to swoop in and wrap him up in his arms and carry him back home.

Cartman didn’t.

Bebe saw the exact moment as any chance of Cartman going out there for Butters drained from his face. His shoulders fell. His head hung. His eyes remained on the floor. His mouth was twisted down. And then he stepped back. Closed the door quietly. Moved sluggishly to the window. Sat beneath it.

_Oh no._

His heartbreak was apparent, but now wasn’t the time for sorrow. She wanted to yell at him that _As your future sister-in-law, I’m telling you out of sisterly love and for the sake of your relationship—the one real thing you’ve ever known—to get up and go comfort Butters, or else Kenny will do it, and Butters will realize—_

Bebe’s heart jumped to her throat.

Butters will realize that maybe he doesn’t love Cartman as much as he thought.

She spun to Clyde. She didn’t speak, but she tilted her head, lips pursed, eyes going wide. _Talk to him,_ Bebe told Clyde silently. _Go talk to your brother._

Clyde looked at Cartman sitting on the floor who was staring into nothingness. Desperately, he glanced back to Bebe. She gave him the look again. His mouth opened and closed as he attempted to work words from his throat.

“H-hey, Eric?” Clyde finally said.

There was no reply from Cartman. Bebe turned to see if he’d even heard Clyde at all. His face was still blank, his eyes still foggy. He was focused on a certain spot on the floor. He was unblinking.

Bebe nudged Clyde. He continued, “You should—you need to go out there and talk to him.”

Cartman finally looked up, and his eyes were ablaze. For a second, Bebe thought he would snap at Clyde and tell him to _never_ dare interfere with his relationship, but the scowl that was forming on his face disappeared.

“And you think he’ll listen to _me?”_ He scoffed, shaking his head. “You don’t know him like I do. I might have really fucking done it this time.”

Bebe blurted, “But Kenny’s out there.”

She was trying to warn him without saying too much. Maybe if she could convey desperation through her voice, he’d see what a risk it was leaving Butters out there with Kenny.

It didn’t work, much to her frustration. She shouldn’t have expected Cartman to decipher her facial expressions as flawlessly as Clyde did.

Cartman gave her a look. “So? Kenny’s his best friend.” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “If anything, it’s good that he’s out there with Butters. He’s the only person who can talk sense into him.”

Bebe gnawed on her lip. Cartman didn’t know. Nobody except she did, not even Clyde, and she told him everything. Nobody could see that when Kenny and Butters were alone together, they yearned for each other like two pieces of a severed soul. And now that Henrietta had broken up with Kenny, there was even more potential for him to realize that what he felt for Butters wasn’t platonic.

It wasn’t like Bebe could tell Cartman this. Clyde had told her how Cartman at first was distrusting of love, always doubting and searching for ulterior motives. If she told Cartman that his relationship with Butters was more fragile than he thought, it would break him.

Telling Cartman would do more harm than good.

When Cartman and Butters came forward in sophomore year about their secret relationship that had ensued for two years previous, Bebe believed with her entire being that Cartman loved Butters. She had spent time at the Donovan-Cartman household before they’d revealed themselves. She witnessed for herself how much Cartman cared. She had never connected the dots, but once their relationship finally went public, it was plain to see that Butters was good for Cartman and Cartman was good for Butters. They needed each other. Bebe wouldn’t ruin that.

Her eyes traveled to the window. Kenny and Butters, their backs to the house, were clinging to each other. She wondered how long they’d been sitting like that for. The longer they had been, the more dangerous it meant for Cartman.

Then Butters pulled back. His arms that were once around Kenny’s torso retracted only to Kenny’s forearms. His face lifted. He smiled in the subtlest way. It was only the corners of his lips that moved, but the smile held most of the weight in his eyes. Suddenly they were alight, all of his agony gone.

Bebe, in the safety of her thoughts, swore up and down. That look meant bad, _bad_ news.

The look on Butters’ face vanished as soon as it appeared.

Butters said something to Kenny. Bebe assumed it was a goodbye, because then he stood up.

Clyde, too, was watching Kenny and Butters over Bebe’s shoulder. “He’s coming back,” he told Cartman.

In the smallest of a second, confusion contorted Cartman’s face.

“Butters is walking back to the house!” Bebe shouted, unable to have Cartman just sit there like a helpless idiot. This was probably his last chance at salvaging his relationship. If he didn’t meet Butters at the door, Butters might walk out for real this time.

The words finally got through to Cartman, and he scrambled to his feet. He opened the door wide and fast. The door handle hit the wall. 

Bebe had never seen Cartman so relieved. Butters appeared in the doorway. He wasn’t on the other side of a window anymore. He was really there, smiling at Cartman. And then Cartman smiled too. With his right hand, he gently touched Butters’ cheek. Butters leaned into his palm. Knowing the touch was allowed, Cartman put his left hand on Butters’ other cheek and planted a kiss on his jawline.

Bebe was inwardly rejoicing. She looked at Clyde. He flashed her a smile. She squeezed his hand. _It’s gonna be okay._

She knew he was thinking the same thing from the way the corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile.

Cartman stepped back into the house so Butters could come in. Butters closed the door behind him. He was still smiling as he leaned forward to kiss Cartman again—on the lips this time. He moved his hands to Cartman’s chest and kept kissing him over and over. Butters giggled and Cartman chuckled.

Cartman leaned his back against the railing of the stairs, keeping his hands on the small of Butters’ back. He murmured, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean all that shit I said. I didn’t mean it when I called you del—”

“I know. Like you said, it was the heat of the moment. I did the same too. I didn’t mean it when I said I hate you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” Butters beamed.

Cartman looked at him in the same way—so full of love and adoration. His thumb moved back and forth against Butters’ cheek. Almost whispering, he asked, “So you’re gonna stay?”

Bebe almost gasped. Clyde put his hand over her mouth before it could escape her. This was one of her worries, that Butters would go back to his toxic parents in that toxic house.

Butters nodded. “Yeah. I’m stayin’ till college starts, and then I find an apartment, and you move to—” His voice caught. He faked a smile. Bebe could see the pain behind his eyes. She knew Clyde saw it too when his hand went limp and fell from her lips. Butters didn’t want Cartman to move away for college, no matter how well he covered it up. “Um, but it was my choice when I ran away from home. You were right when you said I’d look stupid if I go back. And livin’ here with you, I’ve never felt so… so free, I guess.”

Cartman grinned, but it wasn’t his usual sharp, I’m-going-to-frame-someone-for-a-crime grin. It was soft and maybe a little bit sad too. Bebe guessed that he didn’t want to have to leave Butters for four years either. He planted a lingering kiss to Butters’ cheek. “I’m glad you don’t regret it, baby,” he murmured.

Butters grasped the collar of Cartman’s shirt in both hands and went up on his tiptoes to kiss him hard. Cartman squeezed Butters’ body to him.

Bebe shared a look with Clyde. They beamed at each other in mutual ease. Bebe swooned against Clyde. She kissed him. She could feel his relief through it. When the kiss was broken so hesitantly, Bebe sunk into Clyde’s chest with her ear over his heart. They turned to the TV to finally watch their show in peace. The storm was over.


End file.
